Cargiant - buy without seeing

Villan11

Hey there,
trying to get a workaround for buying from Cargiant. Having spoken to their reasonably helpful customer team it is possible that I might be happy to but a car based on service check and their own inspection.

The problem I am having is they won't take a deposit unless I or someone I know actually calls in and sees the car. I don't really want to book flights and boat to travel over and find the car purchased by someone else.

Anyone else had this issue and got a way around it?

Dravokivich

Why are you set on this 1 car?

bazz26

I'd tell them to sod off and keep it. No shortage of cars for sale over there.

Villan11

Only car that meets my criteria and budget, typical. Looks like I need to purhcase before 31st Jan but at the moment there's only one car to chose from...

bazz26

what's so special about 31st Jan?

Villan11

Probably have to pay Customs Duty and VAT for non-EU import, in other words Brexit

wonski

Could be something linked to distance selling etc.

Just a thought.

Also if you are looking for a car and there is just one that meets your criteria don't just settle for that one, especially without having a chance to test drive it. Be more patient.

un5byh7sqpd2x0

Villan11 wrote: »

Probably have to pay Customs Duty and VAT for non-EU import, in other words Brexit

You won't, because of the transition period

bazz26

Villan11 wrote: »

Probably have to pay Customs Duty and VAT for non-EU import, in other words Brexit

There is a period of transition until Dec 31 due to negotiating with the EU so it's very unlikely anything will change on our side between now and then.

Villan11

Thanks folks!

Yes Wonski, I can get ahead of myself at times. Have test driven same make/model here but it's 7K dearer, albeit with lower mileage.

Hope you're right @Dogg Munde, Revenue are very non-commital on info
Thanks Bazz26, perhaps the deadline is not quite looming so. More time will certainly give me more options!

Guy:Incognito

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd tell them to sod off and keep it. No shortage of cars for sale over there.

They probably dont want to take a deposit, site unseen then the person to not like the car and start kicking up a stink in the showroom for their deposit back.

Whocare

Villan11 wrote: »

Only car that meets my criteria and budget, typical. Looks like I need to purhcase before 31st Jan but at the moment there's only one car to chose from...

I can see why bought few car there .and lot of car have minor body damage scratches etc .as it looks to me they buy straight out the auction and most they do to them is wash it .and car with lot of scratches minor dent they just
Call them managers discounted specials

Villan11

Yup. although they clearly state that deposits are non-refundable.

RE: Brexit, this seems to state that 1st Feb deadline is genuine....

L-M

What car is it?

Villan11

C350e

Del2005

Villan11 wrote: »

Hey there,
trying to get a workaround for buying from Cargiant. Having spoken to their reasonably helpful customer team it is possible that I might be happy to but a car based on service check and their own inspection.

The problem I am having is they won't take a deposit unless I or someone I know actually calls in and sees the car. I don't really want to book flights and boat to travel over and find the car purchased by someone else.

Anyone else had this issue and got a way around it?

Would an AA or RAC inspection do? They cost a bit but you get a competitive report from them.

Villan11

Del2005 wrote: »

Would an AA or RAC inspection do? They cost a bit but you get a competitive report from them.

That's the annoying thing, I was prepared to pay RAC inspector for top inspection but Cargiant won't let them in the door until I pay deposit, which I can't do.

Found an agency called clickmechanic that do inspections. Might try a live chat with them and see if there local fella will just turn up on spec and pretend to be a punter and do a visual inspection and test drive on my behalf

L-M

Are the deposits refundable? How much is the deposit?

Villan11

£200 non refundable

L-M

Villan11 wrote: »

£200 non refundable

Is it not worth the risk if the car is 7000 cheaper?

Surely the AA inspection is that price?

Villan11

Potentially, but I don't have a mechanism to pay it, Cargiant are insisting that I or someone that can represent me goes to see the car first.

L-M

Villan11 wrote: »

Potentially, but I don't have a mechanism to pay it, Cargiant are insisting that I or someone that can represent me goes to see the car first.

Sorry, I’m half asleep here. I can see where they’re coming from, bit of a pain.

Whocare

Villan11 wrote: »

Potentially, but I don't have a mechanism to pay it, Cargiant are insisting that I or someone that can represent me goes to see the car first.

Then go over what the problem? Like your buying a car not a dress

User1998

Seems a bit stupid. Most dealers will take a refundable deposit over the phone to hold the car. If your not happy with the car you get your money back. Any time I’ve went over thats what I did. I wouldn’t like to go over either without the car being held for me just in case it sold. I never bothered with a mechanical inspection tho.

Don’t mind people when they start talking about vat and duty from February. You’ve plenty of time and another one will pop up that suits your needs.

You could just take the risk and go over, hope the car doesn’t sell, and hope it all checks out in the inspection. Bit messy tho

User1998

Whocare wrote: »

Then go over what the problem? Like your buying a car not a dress

What if they went over and the car was sold or didn’t check out in the mechanical inspection, or was just poor condition. It would be a right pain in the hole

Whocare

User1998 wrote: »

What if they went over and the car was sold or didn’t check out in the mechanical inspection, or was just poor condition. It would be a right pain in the hole

Cargiant don't care it as simple as that people just need to realiser it .

User1998

Whocare wrote: »

Cargiant don't care it as simple as that people just need to realiser it .

Well if thats their attitude then I’d skip right past them

supervento

Villan11 wrote: »

Hey there,
trying to get a workaround for buying from Cargiant. Having spoken to their reasonably helpful customer team it is possible that I might be happy to but a car based on service check and their own inspection.

The problem I am having is they won't take a deposit unless I or someone I know actually calls in and sees the car. I don't really want to book flights and boat to travel over and find the car purchased by someone else.

Anyone else had this issue and got a way around it?

PM’d you

Whocare

User1998 wrote: »

Well if thats their attitude then I’d skip right past them

I know but there massive place .like Ryanair to Stansted tomorrow return is less than €120 with a rental car less than 200 all in .

User1998

Whocare wrote: »

I know but there massive place .like Ryanair to Stansted tomorrow return is less than €120 with a rental car less than 200 all in .

Yeah if you didn’t have a ferry booked it wouldn’t cost much but just the hassle of it all if the car wasn’t right. Possibly taking the day off work as well. Wouldn’t be too bad if you had alternative cars to look at but op is set on this car it seems

Whocare

User1998 wrote: »

Yeah if you didn’t have a ferry booked it wouldn’t cost much but just the hassle of it all if the car wasn’t right. Possibly taking the day off work as well. Wouldn’t be too bad if you had alternative cars to look at but op is set on this car it seems

Yeah I know when there a few years ago looking at Passat was all most sure that I was going to buy it. But when I see it it was covered in scratches black so the worst colour for scratches

mickdw

Villan11 wrote: »

Hey there,
trying to get a workaround for buying from Cargiant. Having spoken to their reasonably helpful customer team it is possible that I might be happy to but a car based on service check and their own inspection.

The problem I am having is they won't take a deposit unless I or someone I know actually calls in and sees the car. I don't really want to book flights and boat to travel over and find the car purchased by someone else.

Anyone else had this issue and got a way around it?

I used clickmechanic service recently in UK for an Inspection of a car I was buying to save an initial journey.
Saved me a load of hassle as car was rough and this was 1 year old from main dealer.

PaulKK

Cargiant will let you reserve the car if coming from Ireland. Call them 24 hours before hand and they will reserve it for you with no fee if no one has booked a test drive. Register on their site first.

Fly to Gatwick with Ryanair and take the train, it lands you at Willesden Junction with one connection.

Be warned though that all may not be as it appears on the photos. I went intending to buy a 2016 I reserved with 50k miles, and instead took home a 2015 with 24k miles for the same price.

On the phone they will also give you service history information as well as if the v5 is present and if there are 2 keys.

My suggestion is to have a couple of options in mind. As previously mentioned, a lot of cars have small bodywork damage that it not visible on the photos.

soram

PaulKK wrote: »

Cargiant will let you reserve the car if coming from Ireland. Call them 24 hours before hand and they will reserve it for you with no fee if no one has booked a test drive. Register on their site first.

Fly to Gatwick with Ryanair and take the train, it lands you at Willesden Junction with one connection.

Be warned though that all may not be as it appears on the photos. I went intending to buy a 2016 I reserved with 50k miles, and instead took home a 2015 with 24k miles for the same price.

On the phone they will also give you service history information as well as if the v5 is present and if there are 2 keys.

My suggestion is to have a couple of options in mind. As previously mentioned, a lot of cars have small bodywork damage that it not visible on the photos.

Yes - I did this - called them the day before and they reserved it for 24 hours. Flew to Heathrow with Tube to Hammersmith and short taxi. Get there early enough. Bring a Sterling draft for a bit less than the price so you have options on a cheaper one when you get there. Pay the balance with credit card. Wait a few hours for it to be sorted. Pay the UK motor tax on line on their computers and drive home! Once home you can then claim the motor tax back. (Don't risk not paying the tax - their ANPR will catch you!)

Villan11

Appreciate all the advice folks, I may have someone to look at the car in a less official way than RAC so it might satisfy Cargiant and I'll have info on quality and condition etc. Potential good outcome for me. Once again Boards.ie to the rescue, also appreciate the travel advice. Was going to just fly to Heathrow and get a taxi but will look at all other options suggested.

PaulKK

soram wrote: »

Yes - I did this - called them the day before and they reserved it for 24 hours. Flew to Heathrow with Tube to Hammersmith and short taxi. Get there early enough. Bring a Sterling draft for a bit less than the price so you have options on a cheaper one when you get there. Pay the balance with credit card. Wait a few hours for it to be sorted. Pay the UK motor tax on line on their computers and drive home! Once home you can then claim the motor tax back. (Don't risk not paying the tax - their ANPR will catch you!)

I used revolut and did a bank transfer. They had it in a few minutes. Much easier than faffing around with a draft and paying the banks terrible exchange rates/fees.

Also just taxed it on my phone while completing the paper work. You have free roaming (for now) and it takes 2 mins.

Villan11

Was always going to use revolut / credit card for payment, nice and safe and flexible and very good exchange rates. Thankfully the car is £0 tax so that's not an issue.

bf

OP would you not look at an auction car buying service in UK? Plenty of C350e about & thats where Cargiant get most of their stock

Villan11

bf wrote: »

OP would you not look at an auction car buying service in UK? Plenty of C350e about & thats where Cargiant get most of their stock

I have considered that but have no auction experience and don't know enough about the process.
Am hoping to have some progress with this car in the next couple of days, am hopeful that this will work out. I have someone to do an inspection once the car becomes available. Best case scenario I'll be on the boat home on Thursday evening, but have a good few hurdles to overcome before then.

Thanks to all who have contributed so far!

kirving

In many ways, an Auction can actually be better than Cargiant, in my experience anyway.

The auction cars will all come with a basic inspection and clear detail of any paintwork issues. They have no interest in wasting dealers time at the auction, so are genuinely up front about the cars condition.

I was at Cargiant with a friend. Extremely pushy salespeople all around, who ask for your own car keys on arrival, in order to start the sales process in your own head.

Was told explicitly not to move a car we had asked to see and was brought out to us. Clutch release bearing was in bits. Tried to blame it on us, and took some arguing for them to back off.

Eventually, the manager said "sure what did you expect, the car is £1000 cheaper than the next one".

The guys I was with eventually bought two cars, a Peugeot 308 and 520d, which were both fine. All I'm saying is beware, they do little to no pre-sale prep relative to a main dealer.

They buy at auction, valet, add on 15% or so.

Marcusm

Kevin Irving wrote: »

In many ways, an Auction can actually be better than Cargiant, in my experience anyway.

The auction cars will all come with a basic inspection and clear detail of any paintwork issues. They have no interest in wasting dealers time at the auction, so are genuinely up front about the cars condition.

I was at Cargiant with a friend. Extremely pushy salespeople all around, who ask for your own car keys on arrival, in order to start the sales process in your own head.

Was told explicitly not to move a car we had asked to see and was brought out to us. Clutch release bearing was in bits. Tried to blame it on us, and took some arguing for them to back off.

Eventually, the manager said "sure what did you expect, the car is £1000 cheaper than the next one".

The guys I was with eventually bought two cars, a Peugeot 308 and 520d, which were both fine. All I'm saying is beware, they do little to no pre-sale prep relative to a main dealer.

They buy at auction, valet, add on 15% or so.

With respect, that’s the business model. First time I went to CarGiant was 2001/2 and it works so it hasn’t changed. I love it because it’s where you can physically try as many cars as you want (I’m a beast do this matters). Spent many an enjoyable Saturday/Sunday in CarGiant. No need nor pressure to buy a **** car; they’re only interested in buyers do you and your friends must have been pushing that out in spades to get any type of hard sell.

tanko

I always thought that Cargiant was where people go to buy crashed cars that have been badly repaired.

bazz26

where did you get that idea from?

Whocare

Villan11 wrote: »

I have considered that but have no auction experience and don't know enough about the process.
Am hoping to have some progress with this car in the next couple of days, am hopeful that this will work out. I have someone to do an inspection once the car becomes available. Best case scenario I'll be on the boat home on Thursday evening, but have a good few hurdles to overcome before then.

Thanks to all who have contributed so far!

Google flippingcar

Whocare

Kevin Irving wrote: »

In many ways, an Auction can actually be better than Cargiant, in my experience anyway.

The auction cars will all come with a basic inspection and clear detail of any paintwork issues. They have no interest in wasting dealers time at the auction, so are genuinely up front about the cars condition.

I was at Cargiant with a friend. Extremely pushy salespeople all around, who ask for your own car keys on arrival, in order to start the sales process in your own head.

Was told explicitly not to move a car we had asked to see and was brought out to us. Clutch release bearing was in bits. Tried to blame it on us, and took some arguing for them to back off.

Eventually, the manager said "sure what did you expect, the car is £1000 cheaper than the next one".

The guys I was with eventually bought two cars, a Peugeot 308 and 520d, which were both fine. All I'm saying is beware, they do little to no pre-sale prep relative to a main dealer.

They buy at auction, valet, add on 15% or so.

That practice with car giant has stoped .anyway I have been there good few times over last few years even just from a look and never been asked for key or harassed with salesman annoying me just say I was browsing and they when away. Two times I bought there sale man was good happy I was from Ireland as he said when the Irish come there buying. Only time when there started annoying you is when there start trying to sell extra like ceramic coating warranties.....


Believe or not car there come with no warranty as standard.
Plus test drive it like 5 minutes at most

soram

Villan11 wrote: »

Was always going to use revolut / credit card for payment, nice and safe and flexible and very good exchange rates. Thankfully the car is £0 tax so that's not an issue.

They used to mark up the Credit Card payment by over 1%. A quick check now seems to suggest no Credit Cards at all!

You can pay for your new car using the following payment methods:

UK debit card
Direct transfer
UK Bank draft payable to Cargiant Ltd.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept Building Society Cheques or credit card payments towards the purchase of your car. However, credit cards are accepted for additional products i.e. Mechanical Breakdown Insurance and Supagard.

Please note: we only accept UK issued debit cards. Cash payments over £1,000 incur a 1% handling fee and we only accept up to £7,000 in cash.

italodisco

Can't believe you're worried about the 31st, guaranteed there'll be Another extension delay with brexit.
Probably be delays for the next 10 bloody years lol

Villan11

Here's hoping! But my budget is very tight for what I want to get and Duty charges would bunch the deal for me.

italodisco wrote: »

Can't believe you're worried about the 31st, guaranteed there'll be Another extension delay with brexit.
Probably be delays for the next 10 bloody years lol

Villan11

soram wrote: »

They used to mark up the Credit Card payment by over 1%. A quick check now seems to suggest no Credit Cards at all!

You can pay for your new car using the following payment methods:

UK debit card
Direct transfer
UK Bank draft payable to Cargiant Ltd.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept Building Society Cheques or credit card payments towards the purchase of your car. However, credit cards are accepted for additional products i.e. Mechanical Breakdown Insurance and Supagard.

Please note: we only accept UK issued debit cards. Cash payments over £1,000 incur a 1% handling fee and we only accept up to £7,000 in cash.

Jesus, I would have been in real trouble if you didn't share this, thanks!

tanko

bazz26 wrote: »

where did you get that idea from?

I got that idea from two cars i've seen at my local garage in the last five years.